वैशंपायन उवाच
एवम् उक्तः स भगवान् दाशार्हेणार्जुनेन च ॥
तैजसं रूपम् आस्थाय दावं दग्धुं प्रचक्रमे ॥
सर्वतः परिवार्याथ सप्तार्चिर् ज्वलनस् तदा ॥
ददाह खाण्डवं क्रुद्धो युगान्तम् इव दर्शयन् ॥
परिगृह्य समाविष्टस् तद् वनं भरतर्षभ ॥
मेघस्तनितनिर्घोषं सर्वभूतानि निर्दहन् ॥
दह्यतस् तस्य विबभौ रूपं दावस्य भारत ॥
मेरोर् इव नगेन्द्रस्य काञ्चनस्य महाद्युतेः ॥
vaiśaṃpāyana uvāca
evam uktaḥ sa bhagavān dāśārheṇārjunena ca ||
taijasaṃ rūpam āsthāya dāvaṃ dagdhuṃ pracakrame ||
sarvataḥ parivāryātha saptārcir jvalanas tadā ||
dadāha khāṇḍavaṃ kruddho yugāntam iva darśayan ||
parigṛhya samāviṣṭas tad vanaṃ bharatarṣabha ||
meghastanitanirghoṣaṃ sarvabhūtāni nirdahan ||
dahyatas tasya vibabhau rūpaṃ dāvasya bhārata ||
meror iva nagendrasya kāñcanasya mahādyuteḥ ||
"Thus addressed by Dasharha and Arjuna, the lord Agni, assuming a fiery form, began to burn the forest; having surrounded it on all sides, the seven-tongued flame then burned Khandava, enraged, as though displaying the end of the age; seizing and overwhelming that forest, with a roar like the thunder of clouds, consuming all beings; the burning forest's form shone, O Bharata, like that of Meru, king of mountains, golden, of great splendor."
a396c3add8e3 · published Jul 12, 2026, 6:11:48 PM UTC
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Here Agni, being fed at last, reveals the fearsome face of the end of the age. It is significant that the fire is compared to "the end of the age [yuganta]": the fire, so long famished, is now unstoppable. This is a fearsome deed, in which many beings perish; the scripture does not conceal this severity. And destruction permitted from above unfolds in its own time according to an inscrutable design, not by human whim; here Agni obtains the healing [from the surfeit of oblations] ordained by fate. Thus the scripture reveals the incineration of Khandava; and its fearsome radiance is like the gold of Meru.